Milani Primary Runway Eyes Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

Milani Primary Runway Eyes Palette

Milani Primary Runway Eyes Palette ($8.99 for 0.32 oz.) contains six shades arranged as thin strips inside a clear, plastic compact. It comes with a dual-ended sponge-tipped applicator (not particularly useful). The product can be used dry for a sheerer, shimmery color, or it can be used damp for greater intensity.

The last time I tested one of these palettes, I wasn’t particularly impressed (see this review), but I was pleasantly surprised with Milani’s latest addition to their Runway Eyes line-up. Primary packs a lot more color payoff both wet and dry! It’s an excellent buy if you’re looking for really bright pops of color and don’t want to spend a lot.

The first shade is a primary canary yellow with warm undertones and a shimmery finish. It has good color payoff both dry and wet–when it’s wet, it’s just slightly brighter, but it’s opaque color either way. MAC Bright Sunshine is similar, slightly lighter. Wet ‘n’ Wild Bright Idea is a bit darker, almost more orange-y (but not orange at all). Inglot #370 is matte and not as sunshine-yellow.

The second shade is a shimmery red with subtle orange undertones. When it’s applied dry, it has more of a brick red hue, whereas when it is applied damp, it appears redder and the orange tones become muted. Milani I Heart You is similar to the dry swatch. Wet ‘n’ Wild Enter a New Realm isn’t as shimmery.

The third shade is a medium orange with a tangerine orange shimmer and sheen. The color payoff when it is applied dry is a bit faded/muted, and when it is applied damp, it’s better, though it is one of the softer shades in the palette. MAC Fresh Daily is similar but a touch darker. MAC Rule has a matte finish and is a bit darker.

The fourth shade is a blue-based purple with a soft, shimmery finish. When applied dry, there’s a noticeable sheerness to the color, which does improve when applied damp. Urban Decay Ransom is similar, slightly cooler. MAC Pink Union is richer, more intense. MAC Parfait Amour is bluer.

The fifth shade is an aqua-teal with a shimmery sheen. This was one of the sheerer shades both wet and dry, though it does intensify to get to good color payoff when used wet. MAC Shimmermoss is a bit greener, more opaque. Make Up For Ever #302 is very similar but more metallic in finish. MAC Rain Drop is darker.

The sixth (and final!) shade is a medium-dark blue with a hint of violet. It looks more navy blue when applied dry, because the sheen disappears and there’s some sheerness in the hue. When applied damp, the color intensifies tremendously and has a lovely sheen that’s glowy without being metallic. MAC Love Cycle is darker, bluer, no violet in sight. Tarina Tarantino Violet Storm is lighter. MAC Blue Storm is darker. NARS Outremer is matte.

I don’t love the overall setup of the palette, because each strip of color is too thin. I usually use MAC’s 239 eyeshadow brush to apply eyeshadows, but it was a little too big–I ended up using the MAC 213, which worked better. Each strip is fairly soft–if you pressed your finger against it, you could flatten it out with medium pressure, so the palette is a little fragile. The texture of the eyeshadows is soft and smooth, and the color payoff is fairly good to great when applied damp.

When I tested this palette, it wore well both with and without a primer, though it did perform better with a primer–no creasing though very subtle fading around the edges with a primer after eight hours, but there was minor creasing after seven hours without a primer. What I did really like was how much intensity remained when using these wet! Typically, when you use a product wet, it often loses some of its vibrancy as it dries back down, but these really retained their color. Milani didn’t mention that these were long-wearing, crease-resistant, etc. on their own, so longevity is based on wear with a primer.

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21 Comments

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I totally agree; the strips seem so messy, and I actually bought two of these pallettes (in other colors) a while back and 3 of the strips completely broke as soon as I got them home. Though the color selection is nice, and they seem to have much greater pigmentation, I’m not sure I will be picking this one up, as I wouldn’t feel comfortable travelling with them. Then again, if I catch them at a discount, I likely will, but I won’t be going out of my way to track down a pallette.

Oooh! I’ll probably pick this up just to have it on hand for the next gay pride event in the city! Last year I did rainbow liner, this palette, with an added green from my own collection, would be a great way to play with a rainbow eyeshadow look! I love gay pride days because I looove playing with eccentric makeup and will take any opportunity to do so 🙂 (also of course because they are fun and a great way to be connected with the community)

Wow, I’m impressed by how pigmented these colors are – especially that yellow and red! I do wish that aqua-teal had been more pigmented though. And, too bad about the strips though, I really wish Milani would start putting these in pan form. I’m like super OCD and always depot my shadows…I think I’ll probably end up not getting them just because they aren’t in pan form. Lol.

Aside from the extreme fragility of the bars of eyeshadow and their shape/placement/packaging making them a pain to use with a variety of brushes, I think this is such a fun pretty palette. The colors look especially great when applied wet! It”s exciting to see shades like these in a drugstore line. I ended up buying the Primary palette after deciding that it’s fragility and packaging issues were things I’d be willing to deal with because the colors are great and perfect for creating summer eye looks. Milani has become one of my new favorite drugstore brands in the last year or so. They have added so many amazing products to their core line! *\o/* Yay Milani! *\o?*

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